History: The History of Rwanda

Rwanda has a similar story as a handful of other African nations. The country at times has been disease ridden, there have been wars that have torn apart the country and in colonial times, other nations have occupied and controlled the people of Rwanda. All of this has not stopped the country from progressing. They have historically taken two steps forward and one step back. This may be a slow progression but nevertheless it is still progress. Rwanda is a country that has been shaped by its many ups and downs as well as other countries that have occupied this region of the world.

Rwanda is a small African nation nestled, roughly in the middle of Africa and sits between Uganda and Burundi. It is sometimes referred to as, “the Switzerland of Africa.”[1] Rwanda is known for its beautiful green landscape as well as its mountain ranges and volcanoes. In certain areas of the country, there are also rolling hills, swamps, savannahs and plains. Sitting in the middle of the country is Kigali, the capital and largest city in Rwanda. Through out much of the year the weather is relatively mild, with average temperatures being between 81 and 54 degrees. Historically, Rwandans began to clear the forest to grow crops. In todays society, Rwanda is known for being a country that relies heavily on its agriculture. Two of the main crops in Rwanda are coffee and tea.

The country of Rwanda is dominated primarily by three people groups. The Hutu, make up 85%, the Tutsi, 14% and the Twa make up the smallest percentage at 1%. The Twa, Although they make up the smallest percentage, are believed to have been the first group of people in Rwanda.[2] The Twa were hunters and gatherers and are thought to have arrived around 2,000 B.C. The Hutu are believed to have arrived around 1,000 A.D. As soon as they arrived they began to take over simply because there was more people in this group. The Hutu began clearing the forest on their arrival and became the agriculturists of Rwanda. Soon after the Hutu arrival, the Tutsi began to make their way into Rwanda. The Tutsi were a smaller people group but soon began to take political control of Rwanda.

The colonization of Africa began in the late 1800s and early 1900s. People now refer to this effort today as the, “Scramble for Africa.”[3] Many European nations wanted a slice of Africa and wanted to “westernize” the continent. In 1894 the Germans arrived in Rwanda. Upon their arrival they made a distinction between the three different people groups of Rwanda. They described the Tutsi as “tall and handsome,” the Hutu as the farmers who were “short and unattractive,” and the Twa who were hunters and gatherers and had no authority socially.[4] A man by the name of Count Von Gotzen visited the King of Rwanda, who at that time was King Rwabuguri. King Rwabuguri was king of Rwanda from 1860-1895.[5] Only a year after the arrival of Von Gotzen, King Rwabuguri died. With the king dying, this was an opportunity for Germany to stake its claim in Rwanda. They began to take control. The Germans remained in control of Rwanda for nearly twenty years. In 1914, shortly after the start of WWI, Germany invaded Belgium in Europe. In retaliation to this invasion, Belgium, who was in control of the Belgium Congo next to Rwanda, invaded and took control of the country. In 1924, after 10 years of Belgian control, Belgium was officially granted authority by the League of Nations after WWI. Belgium remained in control of Rwanda up until 1962.[6]

The 1960 elections in Rwanda were a big shift in authority. Belgium switched their allegiance to the Hutu, backed by the Belgian government, the Hutu’s finally gained control of the country. The new president was a man by the name of Gregoire Kayibanda. Being a Hutu and having to live under the Tutsi rule for years, Kayibanda was not very fond of the Tutsi. As the Hutu began to take control of the country, they started replacing Tutsi chiefs with Hutu chiefs.[7] The Hutu quickly gained control of Rwanda and began persecuting the Tutsi. Throughout the 1960’s violence towards the Tutsi was was becoming more prevalent. From September to October in 1961, 150 Tutsi were killed and the Hutu burnt 3,000 Tutsi homes and 22,000 people were displaced.[8] Tutsi refugees began to leave the country. The Tutsi attempted to fight back but could not do much against the Hutu’s, who had the Belgium backing them. President Kayibanda was on a mission to get the Tutsi out of Rwanda and would do so by any means. He began a “purification process,” which forced many Tutsi to continue to leave and take refuge in the neighboring African countries. In 1973 Major-General Juvenal Habyarimana became the new president of Rwanda.

In the early 1990’s, a group called the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), backed by Uganda, began fighting back and tried to invade Rwanda. President Habyarimana feared that this group was too powerful and negotiated a deal. The Arusha Accords would give roughly half of the control of the government to the RPF and allow a safe return of Rwandan refugees.[9] On April 6, 1994, President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down and everybody on board died. This led to the Rwanda Genocide, in which nearly 1 million Tutsi were killed by the Hutu’s. Another 30,000 Hutu were killed in the genocide as well. Over a span of only 100 days, over 1 million people were killed, mainly the Tutsi. The Rwanda Genocide was planned by Hutu members of the government, military, and Hutu business owners. They labelled it the “final solution.”

Throughout their history, Rwanda has come a long way. Without Belgium taking control in the early 1900’s, Rwanda would not be what it is today. It is also fair to say that the Rwanda Genocide in 1994, may have never happened. However, since the genocide, Rwanda has become a model for development and economic growth, as well as for human rights and international investment.[10]

Bibliography

Sellstrom, Tor, and Lennart Wohlgemuth. Historical Perspective: Some Explanatory Factors. The Nordic Africa Institute.

Settles, D. Joshua, and Ferlin McGaskey. The Impact of Colonialism on African Economic Development. University of Tennessee. 1996

Uvin, Peter. Ethnicity and Power in Burundi and Rwanda: Different Paths to Mass Violence. Comparative Politics. 1999.

Van Haperen, Maria. The Rwanda Genocide, 1994.

Percival, Val, and Thomas Homer-Dixon. Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The Case of Rwanda. Sage Publications. 1996.

Clark F., John. Rwanda: Tragic Land of Dual Nationalism. The University of Michigan Press.

Professor Abdalla Bujra, Dr. Berharnu Abebe, Dr. Gerald Caplan, Anatole Sangare, Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide.

Conway, Paul. Righteous Hutus: Can Stories of Courageous Rescuers Help in Rwanda’s Reconciliation Process. International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology. 2011

Vervust, Petra. The Relative Importance of Ethnicity, Class and Race in Colonial Rwanda. Department of History of Ghent University. 2010.

Shine, Sadara. The Globalization of Human Rights in Post-Genocide Rwanda.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. Alfred Knopf, Inc. New York. 1997.